Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-07-07
LIME AS A FERTILIZER.
Its Satisfactory and Lasting Effect Upon
Limestone Soils.


been asked a question in regard to the
effect of lime upon limestone soils.
replies that it has no effect upon such
soils and is not in any sense plant
food. but acts only as it exerts a chemi-
cal effect upon organic matter in the
soil, decomposing it and making it
more quickly available. Consequently
it is stimulant and not fertilizer,
and its use is apt to be injurious; or
words TO this effect, as we quote from
memory. Had an ordinary farmer
given utterance to such remarks they
might have been excused on the
ground that this belief has been prev
alent for years past when the action of
lime upon the soil was not fully UNDER
stood. But an intelligent farmer
would scarcely make such an errone-
Gus statement knowing how much lime
is contained in the ash of all the
crops grown upon farms, and also
knowing that the materials which 60
to make up this ash must be plant food
quite as much as nitrogen or potash or
phosphoric acid is n plant food. That
professor in an agricultural college
should make this statement goes far to
explain why these institutions are not
as acceptable to the farmers as they
might be. For if there is any subject
upon which practical farmers know ex-
perimentally more Of than another it is
the results of lime upon the soil.
Lime is q most active alkaline SUBJ
stance, an oxide Of the metal calcium.
1t possesses remarkable properties, be-
ing exceedingly corrosive and destruc-
tive to organic matter, and combining
actively with silica Moreover, it is Il
constant constituent of all organic
matter, forming large portion of the
ash Of all plants and of the bones and
shells of all animals. Its corrosive
property is due to its avidity for car
bonic acid and water; rs it combines
with this acid to form its neutral con-
dition rs carbonate of lime, in which
form it holds about SO per cent. of
water in combination without being
itself moist, but remaining as a fine
dry powder.
1t is produced by calcining common
limestone, which is the neutral and
wholly inert carbonate of lime, and is
a very common ingredient of the soil.
The calcination drives off the carbonic
acid and leaves the lime (oXide or cal
cium) pure. with a loss of nine-tenthS
OF its weight 1t is then soluble in
seven hundred times It's weight of
water. In the form of the carbonate
or common limestone it is scarcely
soluble in pure water, and is wholly
inactive upon organic matter.
Lime forms the following proportion
of the ash Of plants, viz: OF hay, u
per cent; of red clover, 81 to 40 per
cent; OF lucern. 4S per cent; of stems
and leaves Of potatoes, So 10 46 per
cent; of turnips 80 per cent; of car
rots, 50 per cent; of potato fibre, so
per cent; of wheat straw, per cent;
of oat straw, 8 per cent; of corn
stalks, 103 per cent; of pea straw, IS
per cent; of bean stems, p per cent;
of the hemp plant 43 per cent; of the
hop plant Is per cent; OF tobacco, 81
per cent; of oak leaves, 4S per cent;
of all other trees, ID to As per cent.
of all seeds. from to SO per cent; of
all timbers. from 81 to IS per cent; of
barks Of trees, from 43 to 73 per cent
For any person, much more an agri-
cultural professor, then, 70 say that
lime is not plant food is most re-
markable misstatement and evinces
the grossest ignorance of common
agricultural matters If lime is not a
plant food potash is not. nor is nitro
gen, for there is more lime in many
plants than there is nitrogen More
over the fact is that lime eNcrts as
much effect upon the crops where the
soil is full of limestone as where there
is none; for limestone is wholly insolu-
bic excepting in water containing q
considerable quantity of carbonic acid.
But as lime is readily soluble in cold
water and is quickly made insoluble
by its combination with carbonic acid
which it acquires from the organic
matter it meets with i'll the soil. it is
soon fixed, so to speak. and made I'M
available for plants Hence it must
be frequently applied to the land and
many old farmers who have used lime
all their lives as a regular course OF
fertilizing their land. consider it more
beneficial to use ten or twelve bushels
annually than to use forty or fifty
every fourth or fifth year.
Lime is used most abundantly where
the soil is full of limestone. and the
reason is that the abundant limestone
makes the lime cheap, for limestone is
heavy. and the cost of its carriage and
handling is considerable. Where lime
stone is not found it is best to bring
in lime. because the lime from two
thousand pounds of limestone weighs
only eleven hundred pounds, and
there is a large saving of cost in the
carriage.
Lime is one Of the most valuable of
all plant foods, because of its preva-
lence in the ash of all plants, and for
other reasons. viz, that it eXerts a
favorable effect upon the silicate COM
binations in the soil. dissolving and
uniting with the silica, and releasing
potash, soda, magnesia and phos-
phoric acid. which are all foods for
plants, and also that it quickly disor.
ganiZes carbonaceous matter IN the
soil. freeing its heterogeneous elements
and forming the formation of soluble
nitrates. which are of the highest i'm
portance in their relations to plant
growth. 1t is almost certain that
lime is the most active progenitor If
the nitrogen required for the growth
of clover; for where lime is regularly